


Joy To The World

by greycoupon



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Christmas, Established Relationship, F/M, family fic, season 7, season of secret sex, slightly AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:26:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21708196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greycoupon/pseuds/greycoupon
Summary: It's Mulder and Scully's first Christmas "together" and they are spending it with her family. Uh oh.
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 9
Kudos: 56





	Joy To The World

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to postmodernpromartheus for the beta. This was started at @frangipanidownunder‘s awesome fic workshop. Yes, there will be more.

As they got off the plane, Mulder didn’t want to admit that he was nervous as hell. Scully squeezed his hand to get his attention and he realized he had stopped in the middle of the Jetway and was causing a traffic jam.

“Come on, Bill is waiting at baggage claim for us,” Scully said.

Fantastic. Why did he have to be the one picking them up? This was the first Christmas for him and Scully as a couple. It wasn’t his holiday, but he knew how much she loved the season and traditions. He had just assumed Scully would spend it with her family without him. 

Last week she had come into the office and asked “So should we leave next Wednesday or Thursday morning? They are waiting to trim the tree until we get there and I want to make sure we don’t get delayed. The weather forecast said there was a chance of snow.”

She noticed his befuddled expression. “What’s wrong? We could leave Friday, but I hate to fly on Christmas Eve.”

“You want me to spend Christmas with you and your family?”

She looked shocked. “Of course. It’s our first together as….” her voice faltered before she continued. “It’s our first and I assumed we’d spend it together. Everyone is looking forward to seeing you. Tara got you a special Christmas ornament.”

She studied him for a long moment. “If you would rather stay home, I understand.” He could detect a hint of hurt in her voice. Dammit.

Risking breaking one of their unspoken office rules, he wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

“Of course I’d love to spend Christmas with your family. Even Bill. Especially Bill.“ Mulder added honestly meaning it. Mostly. He would happily put up with the man’s glares and pointed comments, if it meant he got to spend the holiday with the Scully family.

So here he was with Scully in San Diego two days before Christmas.

Fox Mulder didn’t want to admit he was scared. Dana Scully was the best thing that ever happened to him and while he reveled in their new intimacy he was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. He didn’t even know what they were. They never discussed their relationship outloud. It just naturally evolved.

Asking too many questions was potential heartbreak waiting to happen. What if Scully was having doubts? What if talking about their relationship made her rethink the whole thing? So Mulder tried not to overthink things. He kept his expectations low and attempted to live in the moment. 

He was a ball of nerves now, though. Being brought home for Christmas was a big deal. It was a thing you did when you were a serious couple. He wanted to make a good impression, even though they already knew him. Bill, he figured, was a lost cause. Tara had been friendly when they had met before so he wasn’t too worried about her. And Maggie Scully knew him pretty well. They had a unique relationship forged in the terror of Scully’s abduction. She trusted him and Maggie never struck him as someone who gave that away freely.

They arrived at their flight’s carousel in baggage claim. Scully looked around for her brother. The airport was packed with holiday travelers. Mulder idly wondered if Bill would show up in his dress blues just to intimidate him.

Scully spotted someone and started waving.

“Bill, over here!” She called.

Mulder looked in that direction and did a double take. There was Bill making his way over toward them. Not in a Navy uniform, but sporting the loudest, ugliest Christmas sweater Mulder had ever seen.

Bill reached them and embraced his sister, eyeing Mulder skeptically the whole time.

“Hi Bill. Nice to see you again,” Mulder said and held out his hand, wondering if the man would actually refuse to shake it.

Bill grabbed his hand a bit too hard and shook it vigorously. Mulder’s arm didn’t actually come off so he figured they were off to a good start.

“Hello Fox. Nice to see you again. Merry Christmas.” Bill gave him a smile that was more like a grimace.

Scully poked Bill in the chest and laughed. “Nice sweater. Even with all these people here, there was no way we could miss you wearing that.”

Bill made a disagreeable noise and frowned. “Tara bought me this sweater and I think it's great. It really gets me in the holiday spirit.” He gave them a genuine smile and they could tell he really meant it.

“It certainly says Christmas,” Scully told him, not wanting to start this visit by insulting her sister-in-law’s taste. Even if it was terrible.

Bill focused on Mulder again. “Did Dana tell you? Tara got you a special ornament for the tree. She’s very excited for you to see it. You are going to love it.” The last part was less a suggestion and more of a command.

“Yes, I heard all about it,” Mulder said and wrapped his arm around Scully’s shoulder. He wasn’t making a point...but he was making a point.

Bill pretended not to notice. “So how many bags did you check?”

Mulder looked over to the rotating carousel. People were crowded around it, jostling each other as they grabbed for their bags.

“We checked two bags. I’ll get them,” Mulder told him before stepping away to join the throng.

As he stepped away Bill told his sister “Tara wants us all to go Christmas caroling tomorrow. You remember the words to Joy To The World, right?” Scully’s genuine laugh echoed through Mulder’s head well after they were out of hearing distance.


End file.
